There had been earlier reports that Apple was starting their own streaming music service to compete against the likes of Rdio, MOG and Rhapsody. But anonymous industry sources are telling the Financial Times that Apple has no plans to “cannibalise” their iTunes download service, and that the technology they acquired in their 2009 purchase of Lala will be used for “insurance”.
Instead of giving users unlimited access to the entire iTunes catalogue, any planned cloud music service will scan a computer for any existing tracks, and then store a copy in their MobileMe-branded cloud for users to access remotely. Whether that will be all MP3s, or just iTunes downloads, is unknown. But people seem to think Apple will tell us more on Wednesday. [Financial Times via Ars Technica]